Taipei, Sept. 4 (CNA) The travel volume between Taiwan's Kinmen Island and China via the three-mini links for August reached nearly 190,000, an increase of approximately 45,000 from the same period of last year, the Kinmen County government said Monday.

According to a statement issued by the county's Tourism Department, the National Immigration Agency (NIA) tallied a total of 189,383 people using the mini-three links, an increase of 45,179, or 31.3 percent, from a year earlier.

Meanwhile, Chinese travelers entering Kinmen reached 43,484, an increase of 12,804, or 41.7 percent, from a year earlier, according to NIA statistics, the department said.

Of that total, visa-on-arrival travelers totaled 6,936, an increase of 59.9 percent from the same period of last year, the department added.

Also, from January to August, a total of 1,241,640 people traveled using the mini-three links, an increase of 105,896, or 9.3 percent, from the same period of last year, the department said.

During the period, Chinese travelers entering the island county reached 251,068, an increase of 34,930, or 16.1 percent, from last year, the department noted.

Visa-on-arrival travelers totaled 37,353, an increase of 11,454, or 44.2 percent, from the same period of last year, the department added.

Chen Mei-ling (陳美齡), director-general of the county's tourism department, said the statistics show clearly that the number of Chinese travelers entering Kinmen is increasing.

The Chinese travelers, who mostly visit the county independently, have been beneficial for Kinmen's small- medium-sized tourism- related industries, Chen said.

The mini-three links -- direct trade, postal and transport links -- were launched Jan. 1, 2001 between Kinmen and Fujian Province in China and were later expanded to include Matsu Islands.